A silver tongue
by Crazy Uncle
Summary: As a youth, Tom Riddle was said to possess one. Yet he never seems to use it. A story starting in the first book, in which Voldemort gets Harry to give him the stone using his wit.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N This probably won't turn out very well. So Flame, Flame to your heart's content!**

**Disclaimer: While I own stock in Harry Potter merchandise, I do not own Harry Potter.**

**Tom Riddle jr. was always known for having a silver tongue and a brain worth Hagrid's weight in gold. I've always wished he used it more.**

** "**I can give you back your parents Harry, wouldn't you like that? Family is after all the most important thing in this world." Voldemort said in his hiss filled voice. "Of course, Albus could have done the same. He just didn't want to. He probably sent you to some horrid muggle family, that wanted nothing more than to kill you. Or better yet, an orphanage. He did so enjoy repeating experiments until it works.

"We are so very much the same Harry. Of course, no one told you did they? They expect so much from you, don't they? They want you to be smarter than the Granger girl, better at qudditch than children who are closer to twice your age than your own. They want you to be a hero, 'the boy who lived,' but that isn't what you want, is it Harry? All you want is the care and comfort and dare I say it, the normalcy every child wants. You don't want to be famous and worshipped, you want to be just another kid, enjoying life. I can understand that. When I first joined the magical world-"

"My lord, what are you talking about? You're pure, aren't you?" Quirrel said, voice filled with shock.

"Unfortunately, no Quirrel, I'm a half-blood. But we can talk about this later. I have to finish my chat with mister Potter." Voldemort said, a note of anger in his voice.

"Half-blood?" Harry asked stupidly, eyes glazed over from listening to Voldemort go on.

"Yes Harry, Half-blood. It is a term used to describe people like us, people with one parent originally from the magical world, and one originally from the muggle world." Voldemort started again, his voice returning to its cheery form. "You see, when my mother, an heir of the Gaunt family, died giving birth to me, my muggle father left me to an orphanage. Now back then, orphanages were horrible places. I was beaten for my 'peculiarity' and confined without food daily. They hoped that through this I would become normal. As you can see, I did not."

Harry's head was whirling as he listened the face on the back of his professor's head speak. He felt as if he had finally found someone who understood him, even if listening to him gave him a slight headache. Listening to him was pure bliss.

"So Harry, how about we make a deal? You give me the Stone, and I give you a boon, a wish, a desire of your heart? Is that fair? My life for a gift no one else is powerful enough, or in Albus's case, brave enough to grant. The choice is yours."

Harry stood there, not knowing what to do. Well actually, that was a lie. His brain was yelling, _shouting_ at him to give Voldemort the Stone in his pocket. In the back of his mind there was a small voice yelling at him, telling him it was wrong. He ignored it and took a step towards Voldemort. When he finally stood not an arm's distance away, he hesitated.

"Give me your word." He said with more bravery than he felt. "That you won't kill me after you get what you want. that you will give me my wish first."

"Spoken like a slytherin, little lion boy." Voldemort said, a note of laughter in his voice. "Fine, I'll humor you. I Volde-"

"That can't be your real name!" Harry shouted to his own surprise.

Voldemort looked furious for a moment, then in a flash it was gone and Harry had to wonder if he had imagined it.

"Okay than, I'll use my real name if you insist. I, Tom Marvolo Riddle the second, do so swear on all that I value and hold dear, that in exchange for possession of the Sorcerer's Stone, that I will not seek to kill or otherwise maim Harry James Potter, and that I will grant him a boon of his choice. The Stone if you would, Harry."

Harry, still somewhat worried, handed him the Stone. Voldemort levitated the Stone in front of himself, before tipping his head back as a liquid came out. He greedily gulped in down and began to laugh even as Quirrel began to scream.

Harry was entranced as he watched the metamorphosis take place. It seemed as if a second body was forming out of the back of his professor, who appeared to be rapidly aging. Finally, taking a light step, Voldemort tore through the back of Quirrel and the now old professor dissolved into dust.

"Ah." Voldemort said, stretching himself, even as he flicked his fingers and caused quirrel's robes to place themselves on him. "Much better. You have no idea what it is like to be a vagrant spirit for eleven years. Now I can finally relax a little bit. Right after I find-"

"Here it is." He said, his voice taking on a self satisfied tone. He picked up the deceased professor's wand and finally turned back to Harry and began again on the poor boy.

"Now mister Potter, What is it you want: Riches Jewels, The lives of those who've wronged you, a seat at my table, the heart of some young maiden? No, I know exactly what you want. You want me to return the lives of your parents, the two who so dearly loved you." Waiting as Harry nodded his head so quickly it was a surprise it didn't come off, Voldemort began unloading exactly what it was that Harry had done, and what he would receive.

"well Harry, I can still call you Harry can't I, that will take some time and resources I currently do not have at my disposal. Plus, after what you've done I doubt anything can save you from the mighty wrath of Dumbledore and the long arm of the Law." He watched amusedly as Harry paled and began to shake, realizing he had just helped the DARK LORD, he-who-must-not-be-named, come back to life!

'no, no, no! What am I going to do? The Professor's wouldn't even believe me about someone trying to steal the Stone! They definitely won't believe me about this! Will they expel me? Do wizards have the death penalty?'

Harry would have continued like this if Voldemort had spoken again "… except for myself of course. If you were to travel with me, be my assistant if you would, I could protect you. So what do you say Harry, your choices are to work for me… or go to jail."

Harry was trembling. He knew he was a Gryffindor, and that he should be brave, but he was only 11! Trying to put on a brave front, he looked Voldemort directly in the eye and said in what he thought was a tough voice. "looks like I don't have much of a choice."

"much of a choice, _sir_." Voldemort corrected. "or if you prefer, Master, my lord, and your liege work just as well." He began walking out of the room, muttering to himself before finally stopping in the room that housed the flying keys.

"Now then, I'm going to show you what real magic can do Harry." Voldemort said before moving his wand in a complex series of movements before finally muttering a word Harry couldn't quite make out. To Harry's Shock though, the wall melted away and formed a tunnel.

"Keep up Harry, or else you won't get to meet my old pet. I quite assure you that it is much more amazing than any owl." Voldemort said as he walked into the tunnel. Harry quickly caught up, barely noticing that the tunnel was melting away behind them.

The tunnel eventually opened up into another much larger tunnel, this one filled with statues of serpents. Harry looked around in wonder, having to almost run to keep up with Voldemort's gait. They finally stopped in the middle of a large chamber that had many other passages leading out of it. The only thing in the chamber was a large statue of an imposing figure.

"_Now let's see… which command do I use in this scenario?"_ Voldemort muttered to himself, impatiently tapping his foot as he stared up at the statue. "ah yes. _Awaken, oh guardian of the most noble house! Come and serve the descendant of your master._"

Harry could only watched open mouthed as the Statue opened its mouth and the largest snake in the world slithered out, eventually settling itself in front of Voldemort. If Harry didn't know better he would say the serpent purred.

"_What do you want, my Master?"_ the snake hissed out, extending the w and s sounds.

"_Bloody hell."_ Harry whispered, not noticing the hissing sound coming from his own mouth. Voldemort did though, and his eyes darted towards Harry for a moment before turning back to the snake.

"_lead us out of this school, guardian. This school is no longer worthy of your defense. It is time for a new era. It is time for the era of the phoenix to end. It is time for the era of the serpent."_ Voldemort hissed out.

The snake bowed and lowered its head, beckoning the two to get on. Harry fidgeted for a second, before Voldemort gave him a look and he rushed to get on.

The snake rushed down a tunnel and faster than Harry could imagine they were out of the school and speeding through the forest. Harry looked back at the castle and wondered what it was that he had exactly done, and what would become of him.

Dumbledore stood in the doorway of the basement chamber with Professor Snape, looking at the mirror. He couldn't comprehend what had happened. The mirror had been charmed so that if Tom had looked into it, he would have been drawn into it himself, forever imprisoned. He had known that Harry might have been drawn down here by his connection to the dark lord, but he hadn't expected this.

On the floor in the middle of the room was a pile of ash that he could only imagined had once been Harry Potter.

"How could this happen?" Snape almost whispered in a hollow tone, gripping his arm which was now burning with the symbol of his servitude.

Dumbledore pulled himself together and answered to the best of his ability. "I can only infer that Voldemort or Quirrel used the Impirius Curse on Harry to retrieve the Stone, and then killed him using an incineration spell of some kind."

Snape walked over toward the pile of dust and fell down in front of it. "No spell does this, not even a dark one." He said, sounding more broken than even before. "I would know, having learned, seen, or used all of them." He ran his hand through the dust. "Lily," he said so softly Dumbledore barely heard him. "I'm so sorry that I failed to protect your son." His voice was getting louder now. "But I swear upon your memory, I swear upon my love for you, that for both your death and your son's, I WILL DESTROY VOLDEMORT WITH MY OWN TWO HANDS!"

Dumbledore walked over to Snape and put his hand on his companion's shoulder. "Do not worry Severus, we will get Voldemort, and I will personally see to it that he is punished in the worst way he can imagine. But now is not the time for mourning or for oaths to the dead." He now removed his hand from Snape's shoulder and pulled out a piece of parchment sealed with a wax phoenix. "Now is the time for action." He opened up the parchment and pulled out a device that looked like the bottom half of a phone. "It is time to call upon allies, old and new." He brought the device up to his mouth and roared into it. "This is Albus Dumbledore, Leader of the Order of The Phoenix! The Dark Lord Voldemort has been resurrected, and The-Boy-Who-Lived is dead! We must be ready, we must prepare, we must –once and for all- vanquish this foul barely human man to the hell he was spawned from! It is time for WAR. All member are to meet in my office at Hogwarts in three days. We have much to do, and so little time."

Even as he said this, Dumbledore knew that even as he said this, that he was wrong. They did have so much to do, but they had no time. No time at all.

**A/N: So, should I do another chapter, or keep this as a one-shot?**


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Wow. I wasn't actually expecting people to actually like a plot bunny that hit me while riding the bus. To my reviewers, thanks for caring! Though I'll be honest and say that updates will be slow.

Disclaimer: Once again I do not own Harry Potter, or any related characters.

Harry wished to say that he was being brave, that he wasn't scared, that in the last month he had come up with a way to fix the gigantic problem he had caused. To do so would be lying. He was scared shitless and with good reason.

Voldemort (Lord Voldemort _sir_ to his face) had quickly laid down the ground rules. He was allowed to ask questions and give input, and even argue his ideas. In exchange, Voldemort was allowed to punish him as he chose, using anything from giving him lectures to zapping him with mild pain curses to having him work to repair the house they were staying in. At first Harry had thought that the pain curses were the worst but had quickly learned that they were not.

Repairing a century old mansion was much worse; especially when you had a slightly insane perfectionist dark lord to please.

According to Voldemort, they were staying in the house of his father, though from the occasional runes he found on doorways he guessed it might have once belonged to the Gaunt family. Because of that last little tidbit, he felt it prudent that the house be restored to its former glory, and Harry was going to be at least partially responsible for this.

He had already repaired every hole in the floor of each level of the mansion, and was currently working on cleaning the wine cellar and removing the shelving, a task Voldemort had made it quite clear was to be done to his exact specifications.

Harry had put up a fight about being a repairman at first, saying he didn't see why he should when with a wave of his wand, Voldemort could repair the entire building.

Voldemort's reply had been quite simple.

- Queue flashback—

"It is really quite simple Harry" Voldemort said as he sipped wine from a glass he had transfigured. "The wand Quirrel possessed, as well as your own wand, have ministry trackers in them. It is something that teachers must subjugate themselves to in order to teach in Britain, or at least it is now. Students also have trackers in their wands, put in by the ministry to insure they do not do magic around muggles or outside of school. Therefore neither of our wands can be used. Eventually, we will retrieve a new wand for me, and one for you as well should you behave yourself."

"But sir, I've seen you do wandless magic!" Harry argued, pointing an accusing finger at Voldemort, who sighed.

"Yes, I can do wandless magic, but the effects are highly reduced unless I'm using dark magic or feeling highly emotional. Personally, I trust your abilities to do light repair work over my magic's ability to repair a hole in the floor. One that once fixed will probably be so weak that the first person to step on it will fall right through. Now get to work before I decide to feed you to Eneas."

- Stop Flashback

Harry couldn't help but shiver, remembering that Voldemort had the basilisk roaming the forests, searching for signs of search parties. The fact that the gigantic snake seemed to obey Voldemort without question was more than a little scary. Basilisks were one of the creatures mentioned in their Defense classes as run on sight. They had scales almost as strong as those of dragons, poison that could kill just about anything, an insatiable hunger, and eyes that could literally kill. Voldemort could if he really wanted to send the snake through the streets of London and probably wipe out the entire city without losing his pet.

'a pet.' Harry thought savagely as he swung a mallet at the rotted shelves. 'That is exactly what I am to him. The only reason I'm still alive is because he finds me amusing and he has to honor his word or he might lose his magic.'

Harry, though he wouldn't admit it, had learned a lot about the culture of the magical world from Voldemort, who seemed inclined to go teach Harry about it every chance he got. He had learned that by not accepting Malfoy's handshake, he had basically spat on a Noble House's honor, that it was not proper to address a magical being of any kind by their first name if you were not intimately familiar with them, that to offer your left hand to someone under any circumstances could be taken as either a proposal for marriage or a sign of deep seeded hatred, that the Goblin bank was really more of a storage system and that dwarves were much better bankers, that you should never under any circumstances forget to bow to someone of a Noble House, and that the muggle and magical ministries were actually in regular contact.

And while all this information was interesting, and whenever Voldemort took the time to talk to him he fell into some blissful place where everything was right in the world, it didn't help him figure out if he could contact Dumbledore, or if he even should.

If he contacted Dumbledore, one of several things would happen:

Voldemort wouldn't find out, would be captured, and Harry wouldn't go to jail.

Vodemort didn't find out, was captured, but Harry went to jail.

Voldemort found out, killed law enforcement, and fed Harry to the Basilisk.

Voldemort found out, killed law enforcement, and used a spell to mind control Harry.

Voldemort didn't find out, wasn't captured, Harry wasn't sent to jail, but was a social outcast.

There were more options, but Harry really didn't want to think about them. All he could do was do as he was told, hope Voldemort eventually decided to honor his word, and then hopefully settle down someplace as far away from Britain as possible. Japanese couldn't be too hard to learn, right?

Xx Headmaster's Office xX

Dumbledore wasn't a person who often showed frustration. In fact, as far as Severus knew, he had never so much as shown a single sign of irritation. Therefore he was more than a little startled when the headmaster's accidental magic threw him into the wall and held him there.

"What do you mean he hasn't contacted you!" Dumbledore growled, eyes flashing. "it has been over a month! He must have begun mobilizing by now!"

"Si-sir, can't… breath!" Snape managed to get out.

Dumbledore, realizing what he was doing, released Snape, who fell to the ground. "I'm sorry Severus, old friend, but you have to understand this is leaving me somewhat riled. We not only have a dark lord on our hands, but he is my very own student, and without Harry the prophecy is moot and I'm the only one strong enough to match him in terms of power and skill." Dumbledore sighed and took off his glasses to clean them. "The fact that he hasn't contacted you means he either knows you're a spy or he is planning something and needs solitude in order to accomplish it. Whichever it may be, I need information and proof of his involvement in order to get the minister to listen. As it is he has put out a warrant for Quirrel's arrest, both for stealing such a powerful artifact and for murder. He simply refuses to believe that Voldemort is back."

"I know Albus, but none of my contacts have heard anything. For the love of Nimue! Lucius has invited me to a party in order to celebrate the boy's death!" Severus let loose, rage flowing off of him like sweat. "If I knew where the dark lord was hiding, I'd have put a knife through his heart already! And then I would have used a few lesser known curses to remove the skin from quirrel's flesh, and turned his bones into brimstone!"

"Calm yourself Severus." Dumbledore chastised, noting the color of his fireplace changing. "The others are arriving."

Severus quickly sat down in his chair and put on a bored look just in time, as a second later Remus, Moody, Kingsley, and many others started piling out of the fireplace.

"Sorry we're late, took a while to get a hold of Remus and get him a hangover cure. He was apparently drinking away his sorrow for never meeting his almost-godson." Moody said bluntly as he took his seat.

"Understandable." Dumbledore said, eyes boring into each and every member. "But now is not the time for melodrama, nor is it the time for condolences. Report."

"Everything normal in Knocturn Alley." Mundungus stated, "Though there has been an increase in drunken debauchery and celebration. Everyone is still happy that the boy who lived is the boy who's dead."

. "If anything, less raids have been conducted than normal." Kingsley reported. "No recent murders or robberies either."

"No word about him among the survivors of the last war, on either side." Moody said as he pulled out a cigarette and began puffing.

"I wish I could say I had turned something up, but there has been nothing." Snape said, managing to keep his tone normal.

"No word among the werewolves about him." Remus practically whispered. "Though the new Chief Alpha, Greyback, has said that he wants to restore our kind to the glory days."

"Very well then," Dumbledore said, as he stood up and began pacing behind his desk. "He must still be recovering, trying to find a way to survive without the stone. This is to our advantage. We must continue recruiting for our side, and keep vigilant in order to catch enough information to force the Minister to put out the alert. Our word alone is not enough, especially without a memory to show on a pensive. If possible, I want more aurors on our side Kingsley. I know you have much sway with both veterans and recruits. We will need all the firepower we can get. Same for you Remus, short of fighting for the position of Chief Alpha I want you to do everything in your power to get us converts. I wish I had uplifting words to say to you all, but I don't. This war will be long and hard, but this time we must win. We must see Voldemort pay for his actions, we will not get a third chance. Dismissed."

Everyone left the room except for Dumbledore, who sat back down in his chair and looked at his faithful companion.

"Fox, I wish you could tell me what to do. You have outlived me by centuries, and will continue on long after I die. You must have wisdom on what to do in this situation, if only you could speak. If only I had simply exorcised Quirrel of Voldemort and entombed him in something and thrown him to the bottom of the sea. I'm an old fool for thinking of using a trap, I should have known this would happen." He looked out the window at the setting sun. "I should have known."

Xx Riddle Manor xX

Harry was sitting at the far end of the dinner table. No, a more proper wording would be that he was as rigid as a board, waiting for orders. Voldemort sat in a wingback chair at the head of the table, swirling some wine.

"Well Harry, I think it is time we retrieve my wand and get you a new one." He said cheerily, as he suddenly stood up and walked towards the fireplace. Harry quickly got up and stood at the other side of the fireplace, having learned that acting slowly usually meant getting blasted with magic.

"Now Harry, have you ever used Flu Powder? No? Well it's quite simple really. You simply take a pinch of this," he pulled a small jar filled with what Harry could only imagine was flu powder. "throw it into the fire." Harry was startled as Voldemort took a pinch of the dust and threw it into the fire, which instantly turned green. "and than walk into the fire and yell out your destination. We are going to a place called Knocturn Alley. You could say that it is a Diagon Alley for people who want to stay below the radar. Now before we go there, we must do something about our appearances. We would both be noticed in an instant, so please hold still, I'm going to cast a quick charm on the both of us. It has been nicknamed the get-away charm, because while it doesn't change your appearance, it makes people have a hard time judging or remembering your features. So again, hold still."

"Sir," Harry said, remaining completely still. "Why is it you are getting me a new wand? I would figure you wouldn't want someone you can't trust holding a wand."

Voldemort finished his muttered charm before answering. "It is quite simple Harry, I do trust you." Harry was honestly shocked by that statement and if the charm hadn't been in place, it would have shown. "You see, I've had you in charge of cooking, and you know that I haven't locked my door during the night, meaning that if you had wanted to kill me, you would have. Since you haven't killed me, it is my understanding that you understand that even if you _did_ kill me now, it wouldn't absolve you of your guilt, and you would still go to jail, and likely face the Dementor's Kiss. So you having an untraceable wand would merely mean that I would have a more able assistant. Something I'm going to need for the coming negotiations and meetings. I will probably also pick up a House Elf so do not think about poisoning my meals, as you will not be in charge of them anymore. Now if that is all, it is time to go. You first, please."

Harry nodded; still under the weird spell Voldemort seemed able to put him under. When he was lucid he had begun to suspect magic of some kind was employed. But at the moment that didn't matter, obeying was what mattered. "Knocturn Alley!" He yelled. He probably would have stayed in the daze if he hadn't started being spun like a top. He continually hit against walls and openings until eventually he was spat out in what he thought was a pawn shop. He groaned on the floor as Voldemort stepped out, somehow having managed to go through the Flu without getting even a small amount of soot or ash on himself.

"Borgin." He said, walking past Harry to the door, "I've come to collect something. You do not have to come out and meet me, I'll give you the pay for holding it, but know that if you sold it… well, I'll have to think of something particularly unique." Harry ran to keep up with Voldemort, who was walking at a brisk pace. They past all sorts of people and shops, the most gruesome being a shop selling human body parts by the pound. Harry was really happy when they finally made their way out of the alley. He was more than a little surprised to find that they were heading to Gringotts. After Voldemort's long speech on the superiority of dwarves, Harry hadn't expected the man to have an account at the bank.

True to Voldemort's words, no one really paid attention to them as they entered the bank and went up to a goblin.

"How may Gringotts be of service today?" The goblin said, mouth opening into a truly evil smile. By comparison, Voldemort's pointed finger seemed almost polite. What he said next though shocked Harry a little.

"Imperio." Voldemort whispered, his eyes closed in concentration.

"Very… good sir." The goblin replied, a glazed look coming over its face. "I'll take you right there.

Harry and Voldemort followed the goblin to a cart and began the journey to the mystery vault. Harry was almost excited at the idea.

"Before you get your hopes up Harry, we're going to empty your vault." Voldemort said as they passed by a dragon. "You see, in order for my mission of global unification to begin I need money, and I would rather not reveal myself to Dumbledore by withdrawing money from my accounts."

"But, I might need that money one day." Harry mumbled. "You should have asked first."

"Harry, I thought you would understand! Since you don't though, let me explain. I am doing everything in my power to complete that boon for you, based on what I believe it will be. Not only are many ingredients for such a ritual rare, they are expensive. Also, by purchasing these items I put myself at risk of exposure, even if I order it for shipping, because almost all of the ingredients are illegal, and obscure. One item on the list, second liver of a crumple horned snorlack marinated in the blood of a banshee is an item only a handful of people in the world even know about let alone how to use or find. Since I have the contacts to get these rare items, I'm taking a commission, as well as taking you to a proper dwarven bank, so that the amount grows each year instead of shrinks. I swear, these goblins have never heard of interest!"

Harry just nodded (glazed expression returned) and agreed, feeling better now that things had been explained. Of course it was just to help complete the boon. Of course it was understandable the Voldemort wanted a small commission. Harry nodded again to himself and almost flew out of the cart when it came to an abrupt halt.

The goblin quickly moved to open the vault door and then began loading all of the coins, and other occasional miscellaneous items into bags, which Voldemort would then shrink down to a reasonable size and harry would put into a larger sack that he was to carry. The last thing added was the family register, which was shoved almost roughly into the bag.

After they were done they quickly exited the bank, and headed back to Borgin & Burkes. Voldemort smiled almost like a happy child when he saw the wand lying on the counter. He scooped two dozen galleons out of the one bag that hadn't been shrunk and put them on the counter, taking the wand and after stroking it lovingly, put it in his pocket.

They stopped at a few other shops and picked up several other 'basic necessities.' They purchased a house elf, who Harry promptly relinquished the job of carrying things to. They picked up a wand for Harry from a small wand shop – Elm, 12 inches, wadjet feather- and a holster for each of them. From the apothecary they picked up several plants that had names harry couldn't even pronounce. A cauldron, scales, a few sets of clean robes, and so on.

Harry was really exhausted when they finally returned 'home' and fell asleep, leaving Voldemort to his musings.

"He really is a good child, isn't he Gull?" He said to the house elf who had brought him his evening tea.

"Yes sir master sirs!" the house elf agreed full heartedly. "young sir master sirs a good person sirs."

"Yes… All the better for what I have planned." Voldemort said as he picked up a pen and paper. "He will make a truly useful pet, once some work is put into him. But now is not the time for that.

"I need to send my servant a note."

**A/N: **


End file.
